BackedBriScience

Thanks for listening to Backedbriscience. Check out the website at backedbriscience.com or Brian's Instagram @BrianDevorkin.
 
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Katalin Karikó is a Hungarian-American biochemist whose pioneering work on messenger RNA helped lay the scientific foundation for modern mRNA vaccines. For decades, she focused on understanding how RNA could be used as a therapeutic tool, particularly through laboratory-produced messenger RNA that could instruct cells to produce beneficial proteins. Despite years of skepticism, limited funding, and professional setbacks—including being demoted and denied tenure while working at the University of Pennsylvania—Karikó continued pursuing the potential of mRNA as a medical platform.
Her research on RNA-mediated immune activation led to a major breakthrough alongside immunologist Drew Weissman: the discovery that modifying nucleosides in mRNA could prevent harmful immune responses, allowing the molecule to be used safely in therapies and vaccines. This discovery enabled the development of mRNA technologies that were later licensed by companies including BioNTech and Moderna and ultimately used to create highly effective COVID-19 vaccines.
Karikó later served in leadership roles at BioNTech, helping translate mRNA research into real-world therapies before returning to focus more fully on scientific research. Her contributions have had a profound impact on global health, and in 2023 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Weissman for discoveries that made effective mRNA vaccines possible. In addition to the Nobel Prize, her work has been recognized with numerous honors including the Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, the Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science, and recognition as Time Magazine’s Hero of the Year.

Thanks for listening to Backedbriscience. Check out the website at backedbriscience.com or Brian's Instagram @BrianDevorkin.
 
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Dr. Joseph Allen is an optometrist, educator, and creator of the Doctor Eye Health YouTube channel. With over 1 million subscribers worldwide, he’s passionate about making eye care easy to understand and empowering people to see their best.
Dr. Joseph J. Allen graduated Magna Cum Laude and Salutatorian from the Rosenberg School of Optometry in 2015 and completed his residency at the Minneapolis V.A. Medical Center. 
Dr. Allen is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry. He is a member of the American Optometric Association, the AOA Strategic Communications Committee, and he completed the AOA leadership training in 2022. He was also awarded the Media Advocacy award from the AOA in 2021. 
Dr. Allen is a practicing optometrist in Virginia and the founder of Doctor Eye Health, an educational YouTube channel with over 1 million subscribers. There, he provides information about eye health, ocular disease, and vision products. His videos cover a range of topics that his subscribers frequently ask about, including eye floaters, glaucoma, dry eye syndrome, contact lenses, eyeglasses, and more.
https://www.doctoreyehealth.com

Thanks for listening to Backedbriscience. Check out the website at backedbriscience.com or Brian's Instagram @BrianDevorkin.
 
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Dr. Irene Davis is the founding Director of the Spaulding National Running Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Davis received her Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from the University of Massachusetts, and in Physical Therapy from the University of Florida. She earned her Masters degree in Biomechanics from the University of Virginia, and her PhD in Biomechanics from Pennsylvania State University. She is a Professor Emeritus in Physical Therapy at the University of Delaware where she served on the faculty for over 20 years. Her research is focused on the relationship between lower extremity structure, mechanics and injury. Her research also extends to the development of interventions to alter faulty mechanics through gait retraining. She has been studying the use of wearable sensors in both the evaluation and treatment of injured runners. Her interests also include the effect of minimal footwear on mechanics and injury. Dr. Davis has received funding from the Department of Defense, and National Institutes of Health to support her research. She has given over 350 lectures both nationally and internationally and authored 160 publications on the topic of lower extremity mechanics during walking and running gait. She has been named one of the 50 Most Influential People in Running. She is a Fellow and Past President of the American Society of Biomechanics, and the 2019 ASB Borelli award winner. She is also a Fellow and past Vice President of the American College of Sports Medicine and the 2021 DB Dill Lecturer. Finally, she is a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association.

Thanks for listening to Backedbriscience. Check out the website at backedbriscience.com or Brian's Instagram @BrianDevorkin.
 
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Dr. Verena Brown, MD, FAAP, dipABLM, NBC-HWC, NASM-CNC, CSE is a trauma-informed Brazilian-American physician who is triple Board Certified in Lifestyle Medicine, Pediatrics, and Child Abuse Pediatrics. She is also a Health and Wellness Coach, certified through the National Board of National Health and Wellness Coaches, a National Association of Sports Medicine Certified Nutrition Coach, and an American Association of Sexuality Educators Counselors and Therapists Certified Sexuality Educator.  She has a special interest in Culinary Medicine. Dr. Brown spends most of her time seeing pediatric patients, both in inpatient and outpatient settings, and educating fellows, residents, and medical students at a large academic center.  She has been published in journals such as Pediatric Emergency Medicine and The Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. In July 2022, she was elected to the American Academy of Pediatrics Executive Committee of the Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, helping to write policies to advocate for children’s safety.  In 2024, Dr. Brown became a recipient of the HEAL Scholarship (Health Equity Achieved through Lifestyle Medicine) and is currently co-creating a teaching kitchen program for teens in foster care with the local children’s hospital’s head chef. This program is in the works and will hopefully will launch soon!
 
As a Health and Wellness Coach and AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator, Dr. Brown is committed to helping adults to improve their emotional, physical, and sexual health through a holistic and trauma-informed lens, using tools from both Lifestyle and Culinary Medicine and mindfulness. This work came from the recognition of how Adverse Childhood Experiences, such as abuse and neglect, can contribute to detrimental health consequences in people's lives as they age.  Her platform, Sentient Anatomy, is a safe space for this work to take place. Dr. Brown has been a podcast guest on podcasts such as Faith and Feminism, 360 Health with Dr. James Cooley, and Physician Coach Support. Since dancing is one of her favorite hobbies, Dr. Brown also enjoys teaching Zumba.

Thanks for listening to Backedbriscience. Check out the website at backedbriscience.com or Brian's Instagram @BrianDevorkin.
 
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Dr. Carmody, a pediatric nephrologist by training, offers rigorous, data-driven analyses of medical education, critically examining whether the current training system is truly functional, equitable, and efficient by exploring issues such as student debt burden, projected physician shortages, and the role and utility of metrics like Step 1 and Step 2 scores.
 

Thanks for listening to Backedbriscience. Check out the website at backedbriscience.com or Brian's Instagram @BrianDevorkin.
 
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Michael J. Joyner, M.D., is a physician-researcher and one of the world’s leading experts on human performance and exercise physiology. Using humans as his model system, he has made major contributions to understanding muscle and skin blood flow, blood pressure regulation, and human athletic performance. His ideas about human performance are widely quoted in both the popular media and scientific publications.
 
Mike has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NASA and has held leadership positions with prestigious scientific journals. His research lab at Mayo Clinic has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1993. Mayo Clinic named him a Distinguished Investigator in 2010. His lab has provided significant educational opportunities for students and trainees, many of whom have established independent research programs at leading institutions throughout the world.
 
He is also an entertaining lecturer and has a keen interest in how new ideas emerge, fade and then re-emerge in physiology. And he is a forceful advocate for the increased relevance of physiology in a scientific landscape currently dominated by reductionism.

Thanks for listening to Backedbriscience. Check out the website at backedbriscience.com or Brian's Instagram @BrianDevorkin.
 
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Dr. Atul C. Mehta, M.B., B.S., a pulmonologist at Cleveland Clinic, his specialty interest areas are the treatment of lung cancer, diagnostic and therapeutic bronchoscopy, lung transplantation, interstitial lung diseases and pulmonary hypertension. He is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease and critical care medicine. Dr. Mehta's research interests are therapeutic bronchoscopy, lung transplantation and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
 
He was named in the 2000-2001 Top Doctors in America
Dr. Mehta was the founder and president of the American Association for Bronchology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians, the American College of Physicians, and the American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery. He also is an active member of the American Thoracic Society, International Bronchoesophagological Society, International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation and World Association for Bronchology.
 
He serves on the editorial boards for several professional journals

Thanks for listening to Backedbriscience. Check out the website at backedbriscience.com or Brian's Instagram @BrianDevorkin.
 
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In this episode, we dive into the fascinating world of human performance medicine with Dr. James Voos, an expert who not only leads University Hospitals' Department of Orthopedic Surgery but also serves as the head team physician for the Cleveland Browns and President of the NFL Physicians Society. Dr. Voos discusses his journey from a college football player to a renowned orthopedic surgeon, sharing his insights on sports injuries, recovery, and the cutting-edge treatments that help world-class athletes and everyday patients alike.

Thanks for listening to Backedbriscience. Check out the website at backedbriscience.com or Brian's Instagram @BrianDevorkin.
 
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In this episode, we dive deep into the science of endurance and human performance with Alex Hutchinson, a sports science journalist and former Canadian national team runner. Author of Endure, Alex shares his insights into the physical and mental barriers to human endurance, how science is evolving to break these limits, and what everyday athletes can learn from elite performance research.
 
 
About the guest--
Alex Hutchinson is a sports science journalist, author of the book Endure—which explores the science of endurance and the real limits of human performance—and former competitive runner for the Canadian national team. In this episode, Alex tells the story of his “aha moment” during a meaningless track meet that catapulted his running career and seeded his interest in the power of the mind. He then explains the science behind VO2 max, the difference between maximum aerobic capacity and efficiency, and extracts insights from examples of extreme human performance, such as the recent attempts to break the 2-hour mark in the marathon. Finally, he brings it back to what this all means for the everyday person: optimal exercise volume for maintaining health, how to avoid acute and chronic injuries, how to diversify your exercise portfolio, HIIT protocols, and much more.

Thanks for listening to Backedbriscience. Check out the website at backedbriscience.com or Brian's Instagram @BrianDevorkin.
 
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Website for more info: https://drrichardjohnson.com/about/
Dr. Richard Johnson is a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado and is a clinician, educator, and researcher. He is board certified in internal medicine, infectious diseases, and kidney disease and is the founding editor of Comprehensive Clinical Nephrology, one of the main textbooks on kidney disease. For more than 20 years, he has led research on the cause of obesity and diabetes, with special interest in the role of sugar (especially fructose) and uric acid. His research has been highly cited, published in top medical journals, and supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. He is the author of The Sugar Fix and The Fat Switch. Dr. Johnson lives in Colorado with his wife, kids, and two rambunctious puppies.